totalitarianism of all kinds"-Nazi, Fascist, or Communist. Membership applications for the UDA include the pledge: "I am opposed to all forms of totalitarianism." The foregoing facts should be sufficient to prove to any honest American that the Union for Democratic Action is a liberal American organization, unashamed of its liberalism and proud of its principled refusal to have any dealings with any American whose first loyalty is not to the United States Government. The Dies committee report is proof of the contention made by columnists Drew Pearson and Robert Allen in their Washington Merry-go-Round column of several months ago: "Dies is no hero to leaders of this committee (the House Audit Committee). His communism-nudism blast, without knowledge or authorization of other members, at officials of Vice President Wallace's Economic Warfare Board, has not made committee leaders teel kindlier. "But what really got them in arms is a charge that Dies committee is being used by Communists to wreak vengeance on liberals who fought the Reds; that one Dies chief investigator, a former fellow traveler, has close ties with his one-time commy pals and they supply him with lists of alleged Communists who are bitter foes, to smear them as Reds. This is old commy strategem" York Mirror, April 6, 1942). VI. CONCLUSION New The UDA national office is prepared to document any statement in this memorandum. The facts speak for themselves. Clearly the most effective answer to the tactics that have been used will be the defeat of those who have used them. The 1942 congressional elections must be carried forth on the high moral level which the national crisis demands. This memorandum is merely an effort to present the facts to those who will have use of them. As Dr. Kingdon said in his radio talk over the Columbia Broadcasting System on June 20, 1942: "Both our danger and our opportunity demand the highest level of political intelligence and action of which we are capable. The most important civilian job from now until November is to elect a Congress to win the war, and to make such a peace as will guarantee a world of liberty. The time to begin that job is now. The place to begin it is in our own hearts. The responsibility is on each of us." The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Linford is the first witness. Good morning, Mr. Linford. STATEMENT OF ALTON A. LINFORD, CHAIRMAN, CITIZENS' COMMITTEE TO EXTEND MEDICAL CARE Mr. LINFORD. Good morning. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Linford, will you give your full name and the organization that you represent and anything about your background that you wish the record to carry. Mr. LINFORD. My name is Alton A. Linford. I am chairman of the Citizens' Committee To Extend Medical Care, Chicago, Ill. I am assistant professor at the University of Chicago in the School of Social Service Administration. I was chairman of the national committee of the American Association of Social Workers that drafted its policy platform statement on health and medical care, which platform statement, incidentally, was adopted by the last delegate conference meeting about a month ago in Buffalo, N. Y. That platform statement places the American Association of Social Workers flatly on record. as supporting a national health insurance program. I was also a member of the board of directors of the White Cross, the voluntary prepayment medical care program in the city of Boston, in the years 1940 to 1942. I have been a student of this subject for some years, having included health insurance in my courses at the university. I have a statement. I should like to read it, if I may. The CHAIRMAN. Do we have copies of the statement? The CHAIRMAN. The statement of the Citizens' Committee To Extend Medical Care. Mr. LINFORD. I might add that this statement has had many washes and rinsings and I am reading a later edition than you have. There will be some revisions. The CHAIRMAN. All right. You may proceed. Mr. LINFORD. The Citizens' Committee To Extend Medical Care wishes to express its wholehearted endorsement of the National Health Act of 1945 (S. 1606 and H. R. 4730). THE CITIZENS' COMMITTEE TO EXTEND MEDICAL CARE This committee was organized in Chicago to inform our community about health needs and to counteract the misinformation and outright misrepresentation about public health insurance emanating from the offices of the American Medical Association and its propaganda agency, the National Physician's Committee for the Extension of Medical Care, both of whose headquarters are in Chicago. In this endeavor we have tried to bring together all of the organizations in this city that look with favor on the immediate enactment of a national health program. Among the organizations and groups affiliated with the committee are the following: Chicago Chapter, American Association of Social Workers. Chicago chapter, Physicians Forum. Chicago Industrial Union Council, CIO. Social service department, Church Federation of Greater Chicago. Civic Medical Center. Illinois Industrial Union Council. Midwest chapter of Independent Citizens Committee of Arts, Sciences, and Professions. Independent Voters of Illinois. Senator DONNELL. Pardon me. I notice, Mr. Linford, you made mention of one which does not appear here. Which was that? Mr. LINFORD. The Industrial Union Council, CIO, Illinois. Senator DONNELL. That is CIO also? Mr. LINFORD. That is right. Industrial Areas Foundation. Loyola University School of Social Work. Old Age Assistance Union of Illinois. Social Service Administration Club, University of Chicago. State, County, and Municipal Workers of America, Chicago Local. United Office and Professional Workers of America, also CIO. I would like to submit for the record some letters and resolutions from some of these respective organizations, which places them on record as favoring this legislation and authorizing me to speak for them here today. The CHAIRMAN. They may be carried in the record. LETTERS FROM ORGANIZATIONS ENDORSING S. 1606 (The documents referred to are as follows:) DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICE, The social-service department of the Church Federation of Greater Chicago is affiliated with the Committee for the Extension of Medical Care and endorses and gives full cooperation to its education program. VIRGIL E. LOWDER, Secretary, Department of Social Service. Per FLORENCE H. WALKER, Associate Secretary, Department of Social Service. Mr. ALTON A. LINFORD, ILLINOIS STATE INDUSTRIAL UNION COUNCIL, LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE, Chairman, Citizens' Committee to Extend Medical Care, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. DEAR MR. LINFORD: Enclosed is a copy of the resolution on the Wagner-MurrayDingell social security bill adopted by the executive board of the Illinois State Industrial Union Council, CIO, in August of last year. We understand that representatives of the Citizens' Committee to Extend Medical Care are preparing to testify before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor. We would be very happy if the representatives of the committee with whom we are cooperating would speak on behalf of the Illinois State Industrial Union Council relative to the extension of medical care and the need for Federal legislation. Furthermore, we join with your committee in asking the Senate Committee on Education and Labor to investigate the Chicago Medical Association in its attitude toward the Civil Medical Center of Chicago. Sincerely yours, ROBERT C. TRAVIS, RESOLUTION ON WAGNER-MURRAY-DINGELL SOCIAL SECURITY BILL Whereas it is universally recognized that there is a crying need for a comprehensive social security system to replace the narrow and inadequate system of benefits now in effect; and Whereas it is the workers of the country who have the greatest need for such a comprehensive social security system; and Whereas a comprehensive social security system is an essential part of any adequate social and economic plan for the reconversion period; and Whereas the new Wagner-Murray-Dingell social security bill offers such a comprehensive social security system at minimum cost to employers and employees by providing for a Federal system of death and disability insurance, including dental and nursing care; Federal aid for hospital construction; the federalization and extension of unemployment insurance to replace the existing State inadequate systems; social security protection for persons in military service; extension of coverage and increase in benefits for old-age and survivors' insurance; maternity benefits; a new unified public assistance program; the creation of a new national system of public employment offices; and the creation of a unified national social security system: Therefore be it Resolved, That the executive board of the Illinois State Industrial Union Council recommend for endorsement by the First Conference of the Illinois Political Action Committee: (1) Endorses and supports the Wagner-Murray-Dingell social security bill; and (2) Urges that Congress provide for immediate hearings on the bill and take favorable action thereon; and be it further 85907-46-pt. 5- -5 Resolved, That copies of this resolution be sent to President Truman, Senate Leader Barkley, Senators Lucas and Brooks, Speaker Rayburn, Majority Leader McCormack, and all Congressmen from Illinois and all the affiliates of CIO in the State of Illinois. INDEPENDENT VOTERS OF ILLINOIS, INC., Dr. ALTON A. LINFORD, Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. DEAR DR. LINFORD: Our board of directors at its regular meeting on May 10 voted that you be given authorization to represent the independent voters of Illinois before Senator Murray's Education and Labor Committee on the MurrayWagner-Dingell health bill. Our board feels very strongly that the Chicago Medical Society has been very unfair in its treatment of the Civic Medical Center, 20 East Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, which has been doing such a splendid piece of work in cooperative medicine. We hope you will call the attention of the committee to our feeling on this matter, urging the committee to investigate the practices involved. Faithfully yours, HOWARD Y. WILLIAMS, State Director. WAREHOUSE AND DISTRIBUTION WORKERS UNION, LOCAL 208, ILWU, CIO, Chicago 2, Ill., May 13, 1946. To the Committee on Education and Labor, United States Senate, Washington, D. C.: Whereas the great masses of the citizens of the United States cannot afford adequate medical attention. which is needed to keep them in a state of health necessary for the continuance of productive or satisfactory living; and Whereas the betterment of the health of the citizens of our Nation is an absolute necessity for the health of our Nation and the community itself; and Whereas the possibilities of our Nation prospering and becoming productive to the extent of its potential capacities is dependent on the health and well-being of the workers of the Nation; and Whereas at the present time there is no agency nor body representing the Government which offers the citizens of the United States medical care and attention at the nominal cost which they can afford to pay: Therefore be it Resolved, That we, the executive board of Local 208, Warehouse and Distribution Workers Union of the International Longshoremen and Warehousemen's Union, CIO, for its 1,500 members, go on record in support of the Wagner-MurrayDingell bill as it has been presented for consideration by the Congress of the United States, without amendments which would cripple it or make it ineffectual to any degree, for the benefit of the people of the Nation as a whole. AARON BINDMAN, Secretary-Treasurer, Local 208, ILWU, CIO. WEST PULLMAN LOCAL NO. 107, UNITED FARM EQUIPMENT AND METAL WORKERS OF AMERICA, Mr. ALTON A. LINFORD, Chicago, Ill. DEAR MR. LINFORD: We are in receipt of information that your committee is going to testify before the Senate on behalf of the Wagner-Murray-Dingell social security bill. Our executive board, in its regular meeting on May 16, discussed this matter quite thoroughly and are in full accord with this proposed bill, as it will provide low-cost medical care, etc., which is badly needed. Therefore, will you kindly convey to the Senate our wholehearted approval of this bill, stating that it is backed by 2,700 members of the local union. If you desire any further information, please call. Very truly yours, AL KRATZ, Legislative Director. UNITED PUBLIC WORKERS OF AMERICA, CHICAGO LOCAL NO. 13, Chicago 1, Ill., May 31, 1946. Mr. ALTON A. LINFORD, Chairman, Citizens' Committee To Extend Medical Care, School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. DEAR MR. LINFORD: This organization is wholeheartedly in favor of a comprehensive national social-security program providing for low-cost medical care and warmly endorses the work of your committee on its behalf. Very truly yours, JACK M. ELKIN, President. CHICAGO POST OFFICE LOCAL NO. 248, Mr. ALTON A. LINFORD, Chairman, Citizens' Committee To Extend Medical Care, School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. DEAR MR. LINFORD: At our meeting today the executive committee passed a motion authorizing the representatives of the Citizens' Committee To Extend Medical Care to speak for local 248 in relation to the Wagner-Murray-Dingell bill at the coming hearings before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor. Very truly yours, ROY ELDEAN, Recording Secretary. Mr. LINFORD. A word about how this statement was prepared. I prepared the statement myself originally, and it has since been discussed thoroughly in several meetings of the representatives of these various organizations. They have had copies which they have gone over and revised, and so the final product which I am reading this morning is a composite of the thinking of all of these organizations and some others which I have listed here. The CHAIRMAN. Is it in accord with your views? Mr. LINFORD. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. All right. Mr. LINFORD. The committee wishes to state the reasons why it favors the immediate enactment of the Wagner-Murray-Dingell bill. EFFECTIVE MEDICAL CARE IS NOT NOW POSSIBLE Under the present system of medical care-fee for services, paid by the patient at the time service is rendered-there exists a substantial financial barrier between many families and needed medical care. The results are that a large number of persons and families go without medical care service when they need it, others delay too long in seeking it, and still others are obliged to accept it as private charity or public relief on terms that are humiliating and offensive to their pride and self-respect. The financial barrier arises out of the combination of the following factors: |